The Indirect Role of Passive-Avoidant and Transformational Leadership through Job and Team Level Stressors on Workplace Cyberbullying

Jan Philipp Czakert and Rita Berger ()
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Jan Philipp Czakert: Department of Social and Quantitative Psychology, Universitat de Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
Rita Berger: Department of Social and Quantitative Psychology, Universitat de Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 23, 1-19

Abstract: Research on workplace cyberbullying (WCB) is still scarce and needs verification. This study addressed the indirect influence of positive and negative leadership on WCB via perceived role stressors and negative team climate. The main goal is to test the applicability of the work environment hypothesis and job demands–resources model for WCB on a cross-sectional sample of n = 583 workers in Germany (n = 334) and Spain (n = 249). We tested multiple mediation models, and findings revealed that negative (passive-avoidant) leadership increased role and team stressors and thereby WCB exposure, whereas positive (transformational) leadership decreased the same stressors and thereby reduced WCB exposure. No cross-cultural differences were found, indicating portability of the results. This study highlights the explanatory factors for WCB at individual and team level and emphasizes the role of managers as shapers of the work environmental antecedents of WCB in the emergent digitalized working world. Theoretical implications and future research avenues are discussed.

Keywords: workplace cyberbullying; passive-avoidant leadership; transformational leadership; work environment hypothesis; job demands–resources model; stress (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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